Starting night shift - good advice needed

sporina

I am starting night shift tonight - 3 x 12 hours nights in a row. I am awake since 8 this morn and cannot sleep at all.
I have never worked nights before so I am looking for some good advice from those who work/have worked similar shifts:

Day of starting shift - should I try to have a nap before going to work? Should I eat a main meal before the shift?

Night shift - any good food tips for during the shift? I cannot imagine eating a meal during the night.

After the shift - next morning - should I sleep straight away when I get home or stay up for a while and sleep in the afternoon etc?

Thanks in advance, S

Birneybau

Used to work 12 hour shifts for 2 days followed by 2 nights.

Would always try to get hammered the day before the night shift, sleep through til 5 p.m.

Maybe not the healthiest option...

bleg

Ask your doc to prescribe you modafinil

chin_grin

I did a night shift once........Was the most painful experience trying to stay awake. I wasn't prepared at all at all.

Don't eat a big meal in the evening, doing that will make you more sleepy. Treat the night as your day, if you catch my drift. So try to get some shut eye during the day and then at night eat the same portions as you would (breakfast, lunch, dinner) at the usual intervals.

Failing that, you cannae go rang wi a can o'monster. The green one.

Rabies

You'll be fine.
What kind of work is it?

If it is boring line work, then ya, get some rest before hand.
If you'll be active for the shift, then you won't notice it too much.

I do 12hr, 15hr and two 10hr shifts a week. Long with a short 3hr at the start of the week.
Two of the shifts are afternoons to night. The two big ones are evening to morning (7-8am)

massdebater

Awh I thought the title was Saturday night shift, and the OP was looking for advice on how to get the shift on a Saturday night. Very disappointed

Edit: My advice would have been if you can't lift her, don't shift her

orourkeda

Don't **** too hard.

ringoh

Working 12 shifts for 6 years. Get up normal time on the morning you start your shift. Eat normal breakfast. Go for a walk or any exercise as long as its not too strenuous. Go to bed for 2-4hrs. Get up and have your dinner (normal portion). Go to work. This is where your body clock needs to change. For your first break treat it as breakfast.....have a light cereal. Have a small snack(sandwich or soup) for 2nd break and whatever you feel like for last break. You'll find thet if you eat too much you will feel very tired and feel like falling asleep. Avoid stimulant drinks. Drink loads of water. Oh and DONT get drunk the night before....the last thing you need is a hangover to nurse!!! Keep busy!! Go to bed as soon as you get home and get up approx 3 hrs before your shift starts. When you finish your rotation go to bed for 4hrs and get up. It'll be tough but if you stay in bed you wont be able to sleep that night. If you exercise while you work shift (on your off days) it makes it a whole lot easier.

Kiera

Dont fall asleep...

Biggins

You have to be strict on yourself.

When you get home from your night-shift, go to bed. No if's or buts.
Don't allow yourself to get distracted by things going on around you. "I will just do this" or "that" before I go and the next thing you know hours have passed and your then trying to cram some sleep in before your next shift! That route leads to days where it seems your just going from bed to work and bed to work again... You end up like a walking zombie and crashing out completely on your days off.

No, be strict upon yourself. Work, home, bed.
Before a shift, get some fresh air if possible if your tired still. Try and stay away from tea or some sugary drinks. Bring chocolate to work and fruit sometimes, even Lucazade/soda - I find it helps.
If you really get a bad tiring night shift, drink that emergency Redbull (or its equivalent) you carry for such emergencies - but remember that you WILL crash when the effects wear off so drink them types of drinks only in the last hours of duty. Don't make it a regular habit though of relying on that stuff over longer periods of time or regular consumption - its not good for you!
Lucazade is a good alternative - lower adsorption speed and keep you steadily going over a longer steadier period of time.

If during the night, you can find some sort of mental exercises to do, it also helps to keep the mind sharp. Throw some water on your face occasionally during the night at times. It helps waken you up and keeps you fresh. Try eating spicy food (not too hot that it burns the crap out of you at the other end!)

Swimming (if possible) or a cold shower before a night-shift also helps too in some cases.

Your body-clock needs time to adjust, the first few times will be hard but IF your strict upon yourself, its worth it in the long run.

Good luck.

Pookah

Try to have a nap this afternoon.

One of those blindfolds you get on aeroplanes, for helping to keep out the light during the day, could come in handy.

helimachoptor

Op thats easy . A doctor once told me it takes your body 2 months to acclimatise to working nights but obviously if you are going to be alternating shifts you'll be knackered.

In college one christmas, i worked 10pm to 6am, home for 3 hours sleep, into college til 4/5 then home for a few hours sleep and then off to work. It was immensely tough, just try and reverse it, so if you get home at 8am, got to bed about 10/11 sleep til 6/7pm.

sporina

ringoh wrote: »

Working 12 shifts for 6 years. Get up normal time on the morning you start your shift. Eat normal breakfast. Go for a walk or any exercise as long as its not too strenuous. Go to bed for 2-4hrs. Get up and have your dinner (normal portion). Go to work. This is where your body clock needs to change. For your first break treat it as breakfast.....have a light cereal. Have a small snack(sandwich or soup) for 2nd break and whatever you feel like for last break. You'll find thet if you eat too much you will feel very tired and feel like falling asleep. Avoid stimulant drinks. Drink loads of water. Oh and DONT get drunk the night before....the last thing you need is a hangover to nurse!!! Keep busy!! Go to bed as soon as you get home and get up approx 3 hrs before your shift starts. When you finish your rotation go to bed for 4hrs and get up. It'll be tough but if you stay in bed you wont be able to sleep that night. If you exercise while you work shift (on your off days) it makes it a whole lot easier.

thanks - sounds good. yep I am not into stimulant drinks so I will stay clear of them. I will try to have a nap this afternoon before I eat dinner. Soup is a good idea - always easy to have. I did however read on line that one should try to unwind before going to bed in the morning so to get rid of any stress etc, which will help one to sleep better. And seems 4 hrs the morn coming off the night shift it they way to go.

I will be working in a hospital and I feel it may be quiet so I think I will bring in some puzzles to something to keep my mind active too. It is the boredom I am worried about too. Will let ye know how I get on on Thursday.

phill106

Worked nights for a few months. Definitely have a sleep before if at all possible, otherwise your first night will be awful.
When you come home from work after, probably a good idea to stay up for another hour or so just to remind yourself and your family what each other look like.
I would go with having a can of redbull on standby, really does help.
Finally just hope that your house isnt too loud during the day. Consider blackout blinds, and / or sleeping in the quietest room in house.
Getting up for work then, i would resist the temptation to wake up hours before work. Remember thats supposed to be your "nights sleep" so a few hour nap isnt going to cut it. Get up only hour before work or so, enough time to wake up, perform all morning absolutions and get to work in time.
Finally nights off. What i used to do is go to bed after work, nap for a few hours, then wake up again. More hours in the aftrnoon/evening with family or do whatever you want, then bed around 1-2. First night off sleep till morning, do whatever all day, sleep around midnight, up again at 7-8, do what you want, then go to sleep for 4 hours before work, waking up hour before work.
Rinse and repeat.

ringoh

Good luck....don't kill anyone.....just kiddin!!

Meleftone

I've been working 12hr day/night shifts for the past 10yrs and you can't go wrong with ringoh's advice. It is going to take a good few weeks for your bodyclock to ajust to the new pattern. What I do when I'm on nights is stay up till 1:30 -2 am the night before I have to work then sleep till @ 2-3 hrs before I start work, go to bed the minute you get home and get up 2-3 hrs before work on the next day, on the last day I only sleep for 3-4 hrs or else I won't be able to sleep that night. Good luck.

sporina

ringoh wrote: »

Working 12 shifts for 6 years. Get up normal time on the morning you start your shift. Eat normal breakfast. Go for a walk or any exercise as long as its not too strenuous. Go to bed for 2-4hrs. Get up and have your dinner (normal portion). Go to work. This is where your body clock needs to change. For your first break treat it as breakfast.....have a light cereal. Have a small snack(sandwich or soup) for 2nd break and whatever you feel like for last break. You'll find thet if you eat too much you will feel very tired and feel like falling asleep. Avoid stimulant drinks. Drink loads of water. Oh and DONT get drunk the night before....the last thing you need is a hangover to nurse!!! Keep busy!! Go to bed as soon as you get home and get up approx 3 hrs before your shift starts. When you finish your rotation go to bed for 4hrs and get up. It'll be tough but if you stay in bed you wont be able to sleep that night. If you exercise while you work shift (on your off days) it makes it a whole lot easier.

just out of curiosity - why does the body clock need to change when at work? As in, should one not have breakfast when one gets up in the eve as oppose to dinner? And then lunch for 1st break - dinner for 2nd and then bed?

phill106

I never saw meals as a big thing. I worked nights in a hotel, so would grab some fry ingredients and eat as i finished my shift. Would often go to bed then and have a dinner for breakfast!

ringoh

Well this works for me. I find that im killing time till my shift starts so when i get to work my "day" starts so that when ive had my last break it feels like my evening meal. When i finish my shift it feels right to go to bed. Then on your next shift you get up late and it feels right to have "breakfast" at that time. By the way...your co-workers will give you hundreds of tips. Some work and some definately are to be avoided. Dont be afraid to try them and find what suits you. To finish.......nights are not for everyone!!!! ive seen the results!!

Oh yes.....the first night of your rotation is by far the worst

Auldloon

Have had to do nights on occasion. Not a huge fan but the morning you finish is excellent especially if its a week day morning and the world is on their way to work.
I have major problems eating enough when on nights.

Son Of A Vidic

Used to work a lot of night shifts, when your finished in the morning get to bed within 60 -90 minutes after getting home. You don't want to over stimulate your mind by sitting down to the TV ect. Don't go to bed hungry otherwise it will interrupt your sleep. Most important, when you come home after finishing the last night shift, don't make the mistake everyone makes and go to bed. Stay awake for the day and into the evening and go to bed a bit earlier than normal.

So if you went to bed at say 21.30pm you'll get a great nights sleep and when you wake up the following morning, your body will be reprogrammed into a normal day cycle again. The mistake people make is they come in from their last night shift - go to bed - wake up at 17.30pm - body clocked fcuked - awake all night and it will take them days to sort it out.

danwhite88

i recently worked a 16 hour shift through the night, that day i had been on work experience for college from 9 till 4 and started my 16 hour shift at half four that evening until half 6 in the morning. I brought my laptop and my girlfriend. she came up around 9 and stayed till around 3 so that made time go by really quick then I played championship manager to pass time which worked wonders. when i got home about 7 i slept till half two and was back in work from 3 till 7.

wmpdd3

danwhite88 wrote: »

i recently worked a 16 hour shift through the night, that day i had been on work experience for college from 9 till 4 and started my 16 hour shift at half four that evening until half 6 in the morning. I brought my laptop and my girlfriend. she came up around 9 and stayed till around 3 so that made time go by really quick then I played championship manager to pass time which worked wonders. when i got home about 7 i slept till half two and was back in work from 3 till 7.

Did mad hours like that before, take it your 22, that's the difference. Once your over 30, the length of time in work, the stress of not making a mistake and the physical effort just burns you out.

Still fair play to you, though I want a job where I can bring my family and laptop!

_Kaiser_

I worked nights for years.. preferred it tbh: more money (shift allowance), less traffic/easier commute, better craic (usually)

I used to work 4 nights on and 3 off most of the time. I'd just come home after the shift, go to bed and not get up till the afternoon, then get up, shower, get dressed etc and just head out and eat in work during the night.

Then I'd generally catch up on my sleep on my first day off and have the next 2 as "normal" days... but I generally stay up later anyway so maybe I was easier able to adjust.

The_B_Man

I used to work alternating shifts, some of which were overnight. Nobody was in the office at that time so i just played this all night: Onslaught.

If you dont have access to a computer, then I know security guards who bring their own laptop, or even a portable DVD player in and watch DVDs all night.

I also remember comin home some morning and i'd end up cleanin the house, then goin to bed at around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Eventually I just got out of bed an hour before me shift started, regardless if I was on the 6am start or the 11pm start!! :eek:

And on the food thing. I didnt eat at first, but eventually the hunger will get ya!

Töpher

In some places you'll find the lads getting takeaways every night, it won't take long before you need to buy a tonne of new trousers if you start that, so have a good meal before going in and bring a snack or two with you; nuts are ideal, there's not too much eating needed to get plenty of energy in, which is handy when you're so tired you can't stomach much food. Drinking a few litres of water keeps you hydrated and guarantees a stretch of the legs every so often as you need the bathroom.

danwhite88

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Did mad hours like that before, take it your 22, that's the difference. Once your over 30, the length of time in work, the stress of not making a mistake and the physical effort just burns you out.

Still fair play to you, though I want a job where I can bring my family and laptop!

Im actually 18 so even bigger difference. Im a caretaker in a sports hall and my boss is my father so its all so laid back. Its a good job to put me through college.

ScumLord

Night vision goggles.

happypants

I was also gonna say go out the night before because youre guaranteed to be able to sleep all day, I did because it helped to get my body clock into night mode. If not use ear plugs when trying to sleep, I live in an estate and its quite annoying trying to sleep with dogs barking/ neighbours having a drill off, or what ever the hell else they loudly get up to.

During the night shift, keep busy, drink plenty of water and snack little and often. Try to avoid sugary foods because you will crash and burn. Energy drinks are useless because they will only keep your brain alert, youre body will still be tired! I think I read on this that a green apple gives you more energy than an energy drink.

When you wake after sleeping talk to friends or family, have the chats. I found I would get detached and a little down on nights because I felt 'out of the loop' working weekends when everyone else is out enjoying themselves or sleeping!

Finally think of the money, that helped keep me motivated during nights

I dont do them any more but theyre a great way to get working week hours out of the way in one stint, hopefully you have a few days off afterwards

eddhorse

massdebater wrote: »

Awh I thought the title was Saturday night shift, and the OP was looking for advice on how to get the shift on a Saturday night. Very disappointed

Edit: My advice would have been if you can't lift her, don't shift her

This is the funniest post ive seen in ages *LOL*

Agricola

This thread makes me want to resolutely avoid night shifts for the rest of my life!

phill106

[QUOTE=danwhite88;68568936 I brought my laptop and my girlfriend[/QUOTE]Can i work there?

Absurdum

Some good advice here - I work nights on a rotating shift, 12 - 18 hours. I'm well used to it all now so I don't really do anything special for it, I don't nap during the day before beginning nights and don't adjust my eating patterns. I used to have a meal in work during the night but I skip that now and have breakfast twice, once in work and then more when I get home! I usually sleep for 3 or 4 hours, sometimes more if I'm wrecked but I do try not to sleep too much after my shifts are over so that I can get a proper nights' sleep that night.

The worst period of time is from about 6am - 9am, I find it hard to get any work done, driving home used to be tough but I'm used to it now. I've often not slept at all if I have something important on.

sporina

Just did 3 nights in a row and have to say it was not as bad as I had thought it would be.

Basically I would have a small breakfast when I got home and have been sleeping about 5-7 hours. Then get up and go for a run - chat to my loved ones before heading back to work. Tonight is my last night till Sunday so I just slept 3.5 hours there and I am going to fill the day doing stuff to distract myself from wanting to sleep again.

Thanks for the advice - seems like I am able to sleep working nights.

sporina

hi, just wondering about something in relation to night shifts.

I worked from thursday night to sunday night. Slept from monday morn 9-5 then last night from 12 - 11. I would not normally sleep this much when on days - normally 7 hours. And when not working I can rarely sleep past 10. So, this marathon sleep I just had - is this normal? Is my body clock adjusting?

PS I slept well enough during the days, when I was on nights so I did not expect to sleep this much when I came off nights..

ringoh

Its not at all unusual to be able to sleep like this but I find that its not a good idea to let yourself. If you get into this routine it will snowball. Youll sleep more and when you get up youll feel tired and unmotivated (is that a word?) so you wont excercise. Then youll find yourself tired on nights taking coffee to stay awake and when you get home all you want to do sleep until you go to work again. These are all the ingredients for a "night shift zombie"....you've probably met a few already. It will happen from time to time that you need a marathon sleep but dont let it become the norm. Try and stick to 8hrs max. Again ... this is what works for me, it might not suit you.

sporina

thanks a million for that - this is exactly the kind of advice i need. Today when I woke up at 11 I was still tired - or groggy as body clock out of sync as oppose to needing sleep. So then I did some pilates and about 30 mins on my cross trainer - and was then full of energy. I had to force myself but it was worth it. I would not like to become a night shift zombie but i can see how i could. I will ensure not to over sleep. thanks, s

Sofiztikated

I occassionally do some night shifts here.

Normally, I wake up early enough on the day I'm starting the shift. Go about my day as normal, eat, drink, poop.

I go to bed around 8, sleep/snooze/tos and turn until 10, then I get up, shower (with a nice cold blast at the very end up really wake me up) and get ready, and in work for 11.

Work until about 3 ish, then I'd have something to eat, either a sandwich, or whatever is in the fridge, and then back to work. I'd then finish at 8/8.30 and be home around 9. I'd normally go straight to bed, and then be up around 2, and repeat.

I switch to nights really easily, I'm a night person anyway, I find it hard to switch back to days afterwards.

I find the worst part of nights to be that period between 4.30 and 6am. Your heart and breathing does naturally slow down at that time.

Whats really doing the rounds with the night guys here at the moment is copious amounts of Monster. They swear by the yellow one, with the orange one (Kaos) being too strong. I'd have the yellow one, if any, otherwise I crash too quickly and hard. I could literally finish one, be awake for minutes, and boom, sleep within 5 minutes.

ellieswellies

Nightshift is really crazy. I had to do it once in college for a week and it was the pits! You get hungry at weird times...I had just had my wisdom teeth out and could eat feck all, so every morning I'd come home, go to bed, wake up around 1 mad hungry, eat a bowl of ice cream and go back to bed. The first few hours are plain sailing, and then at approximately 4am you hit the wall, big time! I'd avoid caffeine altogether at that hour because I found it made it harder for me to sleep when I went to bed at 7am. I dunno if you can get them in Ireland but diphenhyramine sleeping tabs are deadly, you don't get groggy and they knock you out cold. I use 25-50 mg about a half hour before I go to bed and I'm comatose. I sometimes use Kalms or anything with valerian in it too, defo helps when you're going to bed and everyone else is doing the commute, it's surreal!!

blubloblu

Breakfast kicks start your body clock. Aim to have breakfast an hour before your shift starts. Don't eat in the eight hours before breakfast. Try to sleep if you can.